Flying L Round Up

This past Saturday Cypress Debayte showed up in force, 110 students strong, to Fort Lauderdale high school’s 20th annual Flying L Invitational. A one-day tournament that truly marks the open of our competitive season, we had a lot to prove after a long summer of prep and camp.

Throughout the day the debaters had either 3 or 4 rounds so it was even tougher to rise to the top when one or two speaker points made the difference; for instance, in Public Forum debate, there were some teams not in the top 6 who had undefeated records.

We are pleased to announce that having taken the most amount of students ever to a tournament, we also had the most top 6 finishes earned at the tournament. Out of 110 entries, we had 39 students walk away with trophies, and even more who were in the top half of the bracket for their respective event. More, we had 11 champions in their respective events.

Of course, what was most heartening to see was the grace with which our students accepted their trophies and the camaraderie and respect our students showed not only their teammates, but also their competitors from across the county.

Below is the detailed list of our team’s individual and team accomplishments:

Novice Congress:

3rd place: Talia Cohen

Broke: Jose Zuniga

Varsity Congress:

5th place: Ambreen Imran

Novice Policy:

3rd place: Douglas Sandler and Cory Steinman

Varsity Policy:

3rd place: Miles Berger and Shrenik Bhansali

2nd place: Marc Valancy and Sid Kaul

1st place: Lance Kotler and Tyler Kotler

Novice Lincoln Douglas:

6th place: Nicole Buckley

3rd place: Josh Gavsie

2nd place: Kyle King

1st place: Ritika Samanta

Varsity Lincoln Douglas:

5th place: Eli Nir

2nd place: Daniel Ruiz

1st place: Shawn Dermer

Novice Public Forum:

1st place: Drew Liebman and Fabiana Sepulveda

Varsity Public Forum:

5th place: Sharan Sawlani and Maeghanan Fitzgerald

Novice Extemporaneous Debate:

4th place: Andre Agosto

3rd place: Alberto Loiaza

2nd place: Tristan Wertanzl

1st place: Isabella Nowinski

Varsity Extemporaneous Debate:

6th place: Susana Denis

5th place: Dylan Lyon

3rd place: Daniel Gamboa

2nd place: Gus Duran

1st place: Brian Levy

Informative:

3rd place: Gus Duran

1st place: Noah Rabinovich

Novice Original Oratory:

2nd place: Jordan Moskwitz

1st place: Michael Sun

Varsity Original Oratory:

2nd place: Noah Rabinovich

Program Oral Interpretation:

6th place: Aetedal Odeh

2nd place: Sterling Wertanzl

1st place: Laura Rodriguez

Original Interpretation

2nd place: Aetedal Odeh

Rounding out our awards is Miss Hannah Gutner who took home 1st place in the first ever Social Justice Debates, formed by our county superintendent Mr. Runcie. As a result of Hannah’s first place finish, she will be able to participate in a town hall with Mr. Runcie in the coming months.

As you can see above, the Cypress Debayte team certainly came to Flying L prepared. As a coaching staff and team, we are just so immeasurable excited to see what the rest of the competitive calendar has in store for the team. If Braddock, Wake Forest, and Flying L are any indication, we are well on our way to a great season.

Last, we would like to thank all of our parents and guardians for volunteering and for sharing your children with us. We wouldn’t be nearly as successful without your unwavering support.